Spam according to me
These are memoirs and other books I've read in the last three years or so. Any favourites? Pet hates? What's missing?
Illness Memoirs
Illness: The cry of the flesh
Havi Carel
Time of my life
Joel Nathan
Bad Hair Days
Pamela Bone
Inga Clendinnen
Tiger's Eye
John Diamond
C: Because cowards get cancer too
Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joan Didion
The year of magical thinking
Simone de Beauvoir
A very easy death
Lauren Slater
Lying
Stephen Schneider
The Patient from Hell
Assorted Others
Joseph Campbell
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Carl Elliott
Better than well
James Pennebaker
Opening up
Christina Baldwin
One to One
Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer
Writing through the darkness
H
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Re: Spam according to me
I like the title Harker.
As you know I don't see any of us as partcularly brave - just dealing with what we are handed.
Thanks. I will hunt it out.
S
Re: Spam according to me
John Diamond is very funny and a good writer. His book is very readable and I am sure you would be able to relate to it very well. It is a serious work but it won't club you over the head.
Re: Spam according to me
harker,
I am actually brain dead from the process of marking 100 exam essays for yr 12. A mind numbingly boring task.35 down - ? to do - no good at Maths.
I hope to have it done this week so that I can actually do some reading next week.
Which one is at the top of your list?
Re: Spam according to me
harker,
I am actually brain dead from the process of marking 100 exam essays for yr 12. A mind numbingly boring task.35 down - ? to do - no good at Maths.
I hope to have it done this week so that I can actually do some reading next week.
Which one is at the top of your list?
Re: Spam according to me
'a bit of a girly take'
come on samex, keep writing...I'm listening
H
Re: Spam according to me
Thanks for the list Harker. I have been meaning to ask you for a list of the books that you often mention in passing and now you have provided them.
One that struck a chord with me was:
Two years to Normal,
Karen Leibovitch.
A bit of a girly take but interesting.
S
Re: Spam according to me
Sounds good. Thanks Craftyone
Re: Spam according to me
Hi H,
How about "The Two of Us" by Sheila Hancock.
It is about her life and the life of John Thaw, and goes beyond his death and how it affected her. She had been married to another actor before John, and he died of the same cancer - strange at times isn't it? If you enjoy reading memoirs, then this is a must, touched with lots of humour as well as showing the deep emotions of living with someone who has cancer and doesn't survive it. Loved it from start to finish.
craftyone
Re: Spam according to me
Hey Ben
Thanks for posting that response. I have just been onto his web site and played the short film documentary and interview with him. I am keen to read his book, based on your recommendation and his own comments.
The best thing is this will be new territory for me. As you would notice from my list I have mostly been reading about the emotional and narrative aspects of illness, not so much the biological aspects. Now I can enter the fray helped by someone whom I can see is very credible.
When I posted my list I thought about how self indulgent I was being. Now I am glad that I have further evidence of the value of continuing to be so self-indulgent!
H
Re: Spam according to me
I loved Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber.
David found his own brain tumour while playing on a new MRI (he's a medical scientist) and then had a relapse several years later. The book is empowering because it is based on the latest research into foods, spices, plastics, mobile phones, etc, and how we can minimise our risks and maximise our immune systems. This book changed my life.
Ben